holy (vintage) grail

this baby was found at my favorite thrift store here in sc. i don't even know how i can explain this luck...in fact, i think e may have been the one to point it out. either way, there was no way that i was going to leave without it! it reminds me of vintage missoni and as far as i am concerned any maxi dress that lets me wear it in the winter (or what passes for winter around here) ie - long sleeves, thick knit, dual side slits (okay, not so much that last one but with some tights...hmmmm?).  throw in the suede purple booties that e got me for christmas a few years past and i am in vintage/color/thrifting heaven!

 

 

has anyone else noticed my affinity for sun spots in my blog photos? 

farewell greg

had time to kill while waiting for greg the toyota van to get smog tested so he can be sold tomorrow (he passed with flying colors). sidenote: did you know that the phrase "he passed with flying colors" is metalingual - language that speaks about language? it is such because the use of the metaphor "flying colors" implies that a less exciting statement such as "he passed" does not stress the importance/relief/whatever other emotion with enough emphasis, thereby needing a metaphor to fully express the magnitude of the statement. yep. anyway, we had to kill about an hour.

 

 

keeping things simple with grey tank from target, go-to gap denim jacket, new but thrifted banana republic trousers, vintage bag that always expands to hold everything, and my steve madden gladiator sandals that have not seen the light of day for some time. figured what with the temperature in the high 60's, fun sandals deserved to replace boots for a bit. 

bundled up

naturally all of the images showing up on the internet, my favorite blogs and in my magazines all scream of spring and summer. splashes of color, neon on top of neon, prints galore, and bare legs are looking back at me and all i can do is look out the window at the grey skies. okay, okay, i know that i flip-flop my opinions about the weather about as often as i change my clothes. and not to say that i am not loving this bought of winter rain, because i am, it's just not always easy to stay warm during these grey days. however, it is a good thing that i have as hard of time parting with my clothes as i do my books. thanks to my on-going collection of warm knits, mixed with my few new investment additions, they have gone a long way toward keeping me toasty.

 

mixing in a levi's denim vest for depth

 

favorite cargo jacket with fringe, wrap cardigan 

 

all time favorite denim shirt (which is getting a lot of wear lately) with long knit vest. the vest usually has a belt but i like to tie it behind so that there is more movement in the layer

 

this cropped best has been sitting in my closet for years and is so warm! 

an experiment

 

i am trying something out.

i absolutely love the "photo journalism" aspect of having a blog. the narcissistic elements of taking photos of myself and then writing about them are very cathartic, especially in a time when most of the people in my immediate world are not immediately accessible. and it is true, a blog is just like most any other social forum where the best and brightest parts are put on display. there is a great quote that goes something like, don't judge your worst moments by peoples' best public moments... or something like that. well, that is how i run my blog. it is fun. and it is sometimes silly. but it is all the time expressive and relieving and i truly enjoy it 100% of the time.

but there is an element of blogging that i would really love to contribute to my own personal experience. that is the act of reposting/reblogging the millions of beautiful images that i see on the lovely interwebs all the time. but i feel like i have (for the most part) created thegirlone to be me and therefore, this other aspect of blogging does not fit. so i have created a tumblr account so that i may share all of these other images that i truly love.

if you are interested in following that new account, please do! there will be little to no text written by me and hopefully it will serve as just a banquet of imagery. as soon as i figure out how to, i will put a tab on the right linking this blog to that one. in the meantime, here is the link: a-thegirlone

the first photo of the vans is mine, btw... gotta keep some of the ego going, right?

detective

i can't help but think about old detective movies and film noir, specifically the maltese falcon, one of my all-time favorites with humphrey bogart, when i see trench coats. it's an automatic word association and a fun one at that. add a fedora and then i really feel like skulking around on gloomy days such as these with my collar pulled up, chasing down leads for my detective agency spade and archer. with the forecast full of clouds and rain for the next few days, i gotta get my fun in where i can. a bright lip and scarf help fight the grey as well. so perhaps a few more movies may make the weekend play list after all. any suggestions?

in other recent news - it is friday! yes yes yes! how is it that weeks that start with a monday holiday always seem to be longer?! i just have to make it through two classes this morning and then i am home free to enjoy a few days of (finally) winter weather. hello rainboots that have been sitting in my closet since i ordered them! there really are few things that are as great as trumping/skulking (to keep with the theme of this post) around in puddles.

hope everyone has a lovely friday and weekend!

 

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eggplant

tights, booties, denim - oh my!
outfit inspiration: a combo of a ny street style photo (girl was rocking the denim shirt under leather jacket) and an overwhelming desire for different colored legs.

i am trying, albeit slowly, to take a bigger and bigger steps outside of my comfort zone. call it silly, but an email from the universe (what, you don't get them too?) suggested a few days back to do something every day that you are afraid of doing. so why not apply that to every part of my life? huh? either way, it brought the drop-waist, cropped, semi-harem pants out of the closet and now has encouraged the use of tights and short things on the lower half (more to come later). 

as for other things that slightly frighten me, school has started its second week and i already feel like i am in the thick of it. as i speak, thoughts about the sexual nature and use of gendered pronouns are running through my head in reference to two english translations of josé martí's "our america," on which i am writing a paper. in addition i am calculating the angular size of jupiter's moons and trying to determine how the hell i will ever use the unit of a light year in my daily life... i do get to hunker down this weekend to watch beauty and the beast though - disney is always a silver lining. that one is so that i can compare it to animal bride myths that have the same themes and the general use of beast + young lady = good stories. 

 

eggplant colored tights - target, mini - american apparel, plaid - forever, denim - vintage ralph lauren, jacket - express, booties - indigo for clark 

 

 

bow tied

this bow tie turned up during one of the numerous times i was going through my storage boxes back home at my parent's house. i have no recollection of ever putting it away in a box but i can only assume that it came from one of my prom dates. someone must have had to return their tux with one piece missing...

i have been very enamored with menswear lately. so many photos are popping up everywhere of sharply dressed menfolk, from gilt, to pinterest, to my new favorite tumblr account/hour upon hour waster (in the best of ways): This Garcon Says.

 

 

vintage polka dot shirt, previously rented bow tie, lipstick mac diva

ah-ha!

ah-ha! at last it is a new week (as i always consider sundays to be the start of the week)! i awoke with a renewed sense of "take-on-the-day-ness" and have thus banished last week into the past. for those of you who think to yourself, "hmmm, isn't that a little redundant," i answer you with this: i have been blessed with the uncanny ability to dwell and focus on any number of topics or events to the utmost, teeniest detail to which point they no longer become things that have happened but rather things are are still/always happening within my mind. so it is until the point when i literally declare to myself that was then, this is now, that the separation occurs. and that separation has arrived today - sunday - the day in which i start the third (ohmygosh how did we get here already) week of january.

i am welcoming in the week with numerous things to read (for class), copious amounts of coffee (as usual) and the desire to get out into the sun while it still shines (weather forecasts are calling for possible rain on wednesday - i hope, i hope, i hope).

 

 

vintage skirt, vintage levi's jacket, target tank, lucky watch, franco sarto shoes, usual rings

wool warmth

finicky weather can lead to frustrating dressing. the days have been insanely beautiful with the sun shining at full blast but the wind chill factor and the fact that i have evening classes this quarter are proving to chill me through and through. this jacket, that i got here, however is ideal for this conundrum. it is lightweight enough that it doesn't feel too bulky, a bit on the large side so i can layer under it if necessary, but very warm all by itself seeing as it is wool. i love the print and colors too - something other than my usual black to add a bit of spice.

 

worn with uo tank, gap pants, vintage jewelry, clark wedges

great expectations

i tend to hold myself to very high standards, especially when it comes to school. even though i was at a junior college before coming to ucsc and wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible, i just couldn't adopt the "i don't care" attitude. naturally, the expectations that i place upon myself have only grown since i started last quarter. as i sit writing this, upon the eve of the first day of my second quarter at the university, i can't help but be filled with a little bit of anxiety and trepidation as to what these next two and a half months will hold. what if last quarter was just a fluke and the real work will start now? (probably not). what if somehow i choose the three hardest classes in the entire course catalog? (come on, it's literature, not likely). but still, amongst all these oh-so-pleasant and encouraging thoughts, there is the anticipation and excitement that school still brings me.

today i spent part of the afternoon hiking around campus, finding my classes, and timing (yes, literally with a stopwatch app) how long it would take for me to get from one to the other. with the sun shining it feels more like i am leaving summer vacation behind me rather than winter. i pulled out and dusted off my old converse today. they were perfect for tramping along the redwoods as i watched my timer ticking away.

 i love "science hill" on campus. all of the concrete stairways and high concrete walls remind me of something right out of the wicked witch of the west's castle. 

 

this one feels a little senior portraity...

 still cannot believe the view from campus on clear days like this

 

cardigan, ponytail, blue jeans and cons - i must be ready for school

 pretty amazing place to immerse oneself for learning, if you ask me

<3

 

little houses made of ticky tacky

yesterday was my big, final hoorah outing of my winter break which i celebrated by disappearing to walnut creek and various surrounding places with the darling kels. i go back to school on monday and this day trip fit the bill perfectly for yet another swell time with this lovely lady. as always, the day was filled with lots o' coffee, thrifting, and going to what i am going to term "grown-up disney land for the wealthy housewives of danville."

have you seen the show weeds? the one with the widowed suburban housewife who sells weed? well, the show is set in a town called agrestic and i am pretty sure that if the show wasn't shot at/in/near blackhawk plaza in danville then it was at least modeled after this place. it was quite ridiculous in the most fabulous of ways. creeks, fountains and waterfalls all running throughout the center of it, hidden pockets on spanish style verandas with cushioned lounge chairs and sofas, outdoor fireplaces encased in elaborate mantles, geese and ducks and swans swimming amongst the koi fish...you get the idea.

little boxes made of ticky tacky...

 

if i am counting correctly, this is fountain #6

 

  

decided to go with a strapless, paisley print maxi dress that i bought over the summer for a wedding, and i'm really glad i did too since the day turned out to be much warmer than i had anticipated. i paired it with a pale leather jacket as i have seen the like in a few different places and have really liked the way the structure of the jacket offsets the drape and general flow of the dress. and, of course,  ankle boots too.  

 

i never not laugh when i am with kels!

there were really amazing burgers...that you ate on couches...

trying to befriend the wild life

 

where we started the day - a lovely little french cafe

with their large coffees served in soup bowls

 

from here we go to the weekend. a few days filled with birthday celebrations for e! lots of long walks, rock climbing, batting cages, cinnamon bread french toast, flourless chocolate cake and whatever else he could dream of <3 i couldn't think of a better way to celebrate the last days of my break.